Jitsi vs LiveKit: which to choose

Jitsi vs LiveKit: when a finished meeting app beats a media layer

Jitsi Meet fits teams that want users in a working meeting app on day one, and LiveKit fits teams building custom video experiences with SDKs. The choice turns on three questions: will your team own a client, will it own the room and identity flows, and how much media engineering can it staff for the long run. If the answer to the first two is no, a finished meeting app is usually the shorter path. If the answer is yes, the media layer starts to make sense. Jitsi Meet is a complete product. Its architecture combines the Jitsi Videobridge media router, the Jicofo conference focus, the Prosody XMPP server for signalling, and optional Jibri and Jigasi components for recording and SIP dial-in, as described in the Jitsi handbook architecture guide. Staff get a web interface, room links and a client experience without your team writing front-end code. Your work shifts to hosting, HTTPS certificates, authentication choices such as JWT tokens or LDAP, and horizontal scaling by adding videobridges. Confirm which of those tasks your own staff can carry before you commit.

LiveKit is a different kind of component. It is a WebRTC selective forwarding unit with SDKs, so the meeting interface, room model, permissions and user login are yours to build. Element Call and La Suite Meet both chose LiveKit as their media backend, which tells you the layer is proven under real products, but those teams also owned their clients and identity flows. Your plan should name who builds the client, who maintains the token service that grants room access, and who watches media quality across regions. LiveKit also offers a hosted option, so self-hosting versus a managed service is a separate decision to make early. A practical test: write down the first three user journeys you need on day one. If they are join a room, share a screen and dial in from a phone, Jitsi Meet may cover them without custom work. If the journeys are embedded calls inside your own product with custom roles and branding, budget for the client and media engineering before you choose LiveKit. Ask each vendor or partner to quote the work against that written list.

Which scenarios favor Jitsi and which favor LiveKit

This table maps common deployment scenarios to the platform that fits better and the condition that decides it. Read each row by asking whether your users need a finished meeting interface, whether your team controls the client, and who will build and maintain the media integration. The main takeaway is that Jitsi fits when people join meetings, while LiveKit fits when the product owns the experience and your engineers build it.

Scenario	Better fit	Condition that decides it
Internal meeting service for staff	Jitsi	Staff need a ready meeting room in a browser with no client build. Jitsi Meet already provides the interface, so the work is hosting, HTTPS certificates and authentication.
Customer-facing support call inside an existing product	LiveKit	The call must sit inside your own app with your own screens, branding and queue logic. LiveKit provides the media layer and SDKs, and your team builds the call UI.
Embedded video feature in a custom app	LiveKit	Your product team wants video as one feature among others. The SDKs fit this use, but you must design and test the client, reconnection and device handling yourself.
Matrix or La Suite style rollout	Depends on the client	If users join through Element or La Suite Meet, those products already use LiveKit as their media backend, so you run LiveKit. If you want a standalone Jitsi room with Matrix user verification, Jitsi Meet fits. Confirm the chosen client's requirements first.
Team with no WebRTC engineers	Jitsi	Without people who understand TURN, codecs and client media behavior, a finished application lowers the risk. LiveKit needs that expertise or an outside partner to build on the SDKs.
Team that controls the client and has media engineers	LiveKit	When you own the mobile and web clients and can staff the work, LiveKit's SDK model and multi-region self-hosting give you more control over the experience and topology.
Shared rooms with Jitsi-style guest access and JWT tokens	Jitsi	Jitsi Meet's documented token authentication and separate guest domain cover external participants with a finished interface. Confirm that the token model matches your identity flow.
Recording, streaming or SIP dial-in as built-in features	Jitsi	Jitsi's optional Jibri and Jigasi components add recording, streaming and SIP dial-in. With LiveKit, you design and run comparable capabilities as part of your own build.

How Jitsi Meet and LiveKit are built and what that means for operations

Jitsi Meet is a set of cooperating services that ships as a finished meeting app, while LiveKit is a single media server component that your team wraps with its own application and identity. The cards below follow the parts of each design that change who runs what, how capacity grows, and where the work lands after go-live.

Jitsi Meet's core services

A Jitsi Meet deployment combines a web server serving the web app, the Prosody XMPP server for signalling, Jicofo as the conference focus, and one or more Jitsi Videobridge media routers. Each service is a separate thing your operators must install, patch, monitor and back up. Ask your team who will own each one before you commit, because a failure in signalling or focus affects every meeting even when media capacity is fine.

Optional Jibri and Jigasi

Jibri handles recording and streaming, and Jigasi is the SIP dial-in gateway. Both are optional, and each adds its own component to run and its own load profile. If recording or phone access is a requirement, scope it in the written plan instead of assuming it comes with the core install. The official Docker setup runs both as separate containers, which changes how you size and restart them.

Scaling Jitsi by adding bridges

Jitsi scales horizontally by adding more videobridges, and the default install is already configured for that model. The handbook suggests a 4 CPU, 8 GB machine for the central server and 4 or 8 CPU with 8 GB of RAM for each bridge. Capacity planning becomes a question of how many bridges to run and how to route conferences across them, so load testing against your expected concurrency is the check to run before launch.

LiveKit as a Go-based SFU

LiveKit server is an Apache-2.0 selective forwarding unit written in Go and built on Pion WebRTC. It routes media between participants but does not provide a meeting interface, user accounts or room management UI. Your team builds the application, session handling and identity around it, using the SDKs. Confirm that your engineers are comfortable owning WebRTC behavior, since media issues surface in the server and client code you control.

Multi-region self-hosting and LiveKit Cloud

LiveKit documents multi-region self-hosting, so you can place media servers close to users in several locations. LiveKit also sells LiveKit Cloud as an alternative to running the server yourself. Where data residency or hosting control rules out a managed service, self-hosting is the path. Where your team lacks capacity for multi-region operations, ask LiveKit Cloud's terms and regional coverage directly before deciding.

Identity and scope on each side

Jitsi ships with authentication options such as JWT tokens, LDAP and Matrix verification, configured through the Docker .env file. With LiveKit, sign-in, room access and token issuance sit in the application you build, so your identity design is your own work from day one. Decide early which system issues join tokens and how guests are handled, because that decision drives both security review and the effort to change it later.

What each platform gives you before you write any code

This table sets out what Jitsi Meet ships as a finished meeting product and what LiveKit provides as a media layer you build on. Read each row as a question about your team's starting point: which items arrive on day one, and which items you would design, build and operate yourself.

Capability	Jitsi Meet	LiveKit
License	Apache-2.0. Jitsi is a trademark of 8x8, Inc. (per jitsi.org), so confirm trademark use terms for any branded service.	Apache-2.0 server. Confirm the license of any SDK, component or LiveKit Cloud term you plan to use.
Primary form	Finished video meeting application with web app, signalling and media components.	WebRTC selective forwarding unit (SFU) with client SDKs. You build the meeting application on top.
Built-in meeting UI	Web meeting interface ships with the stack.	No ready-made meeting UI in the server. Your team builds or adopts a front end using the SDKs.
Recording and streaming	Optional Jibri component handles recording or streaming. Confirm sizing and storage with your own tests.	Not part of the server. Your team designs and builds recording or streaming on top of the media layer.
SIP dial-in	Optional Jigasi component provides SIP dial-in.	Not supplied as a finished feature in the facts reviewed. Confirm whether your chosen integration covers SIP and who maintains it.
Authentication options	Internal XMPP accounts, JWT tokens, LDAP, Matrix user verification and a hybrid Matrix plus JWT mode, configured in the .env file. The handbook recommends JWT over the deprecated secure domain method.	Your backend issues tokens to participants. Identity design, room permissions and any directory integration are your build.
Scaling model	Videobridges scale horizontally by adding more. The default install is already set up for horizontal scaling (per the scalable setup guide).	Scales as a distributed SFU. Confirm the cluster and region topology your load requires with the LiveKit documentation.
Docker and Debian install paths	Debian 12 or newer and Ubuntu 24.04 or newer via packages with OpenJDK 17, or official rootless Docker with separate containers for each component.	Installed as a server you deploy in your environment. Confirm the install path and supported platforms in the current LiveKit documentation.
Multi-region self-hosting	Possible by running bridges and components in your topology. Confirm your own regional design and TURN needs.	Multi-region self-hosting is documented. LiveKit Cloud is also offered as an alternative to self-hosting (per the LiveKit README).

Licensing and what is paid for each platform

Jitsi Meet is licensed under Apache-2.0, so you can run, modify and redistribute it inside your own infrastructure without a licence fee for the software itself. The name is different from the code. Jitsi is a trademark of 8x8, Inc., so a product that uses the name in its branding should be checked against that trademark position before launch. 8x8 also sells JaaS (Jitsi as a Service), which the Jitsi project describes as the team that builds Jitsi running it for you. Self-hosting therefore means paying for your own servers, staff time and any outside help, while JaaS is a managed service billed by 8x8.

Apache-2.0 code: The meeting app and its components can be self-hosted under a permissive licence with no paid self-hosted edition supplied in our research.
Trademark held by 8x8: The Jitsi name belongs to 8x8, Inc., which matters if you rebrand the product or publish it under the Jitsi name.
JaaS as the managed option: 8x8 offers Jitsi as a Service, billed by 8x8, which moves hosting and operations out of your team.
Your own running costs: Self-hosting costs include servers, TLS certificates, monitoring, upgrades and any support contract you choose to buy.
Support terms: Ask 8x8 and any third-party integrator in writing what support, response times and indemnities they provide for a self-hosted deployment.

Confirm the trademark terms and any JaaS pricing directly with 8x8 before you decide, since those terms are outside this page.

How identity, tokens and customization differ in practice

Choose on identity first: Jitsi ships with authentication modes you can switch on in configuration, while LiveKit leaves access control to your backend. Jitsi's Docker guide lists internal XMPP accounts, JWT tokens, LDAP, Matrix user verification and a hybrid Matrix plus JWT mode, set through the .env file. The Jitsi handbook marks the older secure domain method (username and password room creation) as deprecated for new installations and recommends JWT token authentication, with a separate anonymous domain for guests. Read the Jitsi token authentication guide before you settle on a model, and confirm which options your Jitsi release supports in your environment.

The condition that matters is whether you already have an identity provider and a backend that can mint tokens. If you do, Jitsi's JWT mode lets your service sign a short-lived token that carries the user's identity and room claims, so the meeting access decision stays in your system. LiveKit fits this pattern too, since its access is controlled by tokens your backend issues through its SDKs, but you write the issuing service, the grant logic and the client join flow yourself. Confirm the token claims and grant options against the LiveKit documentation for your SDK version before you design around them.

If your team wants a working Jitsi interface with the least custom code, Jitsi is the shorter path. The authentication options are configuration rather than application code, and the guest domain separation is a documented pattern. The trade-off is that customization beyond those settings means working inside the Jitsi Meet web app, while LiveKit gives your developers the media primitives to build their own interface and authorization flow. Plan a check of who can create rooms, how guests join and where tokens are signed and stored, and record those decisions in the scope you agree with DeployOpen before work starts.

What drives the running cost of each

This table shows who pays for each cost category when running Jitsi Meet or LiveKit, and whether each cost is one-time or recurring. Read it as a checklist for quote requests: the Jitsi rows rest on the supplied sizing guidance, while the LiveKit rows name what to ask for because no LiveKit sizing figures were supplied. The main takeaway is that LiveKit moves more of the build and upkeep onto your engineering team, while Jitsi concentrates its cost in servers and operations.

Cost component	Jitsi Meet	LiveKit
Media and central servers	Recurring. Central server suggested at 4 CPU and 8 GB; each videobridge at 4 or 8 CPU with 8 GB. Cost rises with concurrent participants and bridge count.	Recurring. Media servers are your infrastructure in every self-hosted setup. Ask LiveKit or DeployOpen for sizing based on your participant counts, regions and codec choices, since no sizing figures were supplied here.
Client, UI and room features	One-time and ongoing. The finished web app ships with the stack, so cost is mainly configuration, branding and upgrades.	One-time, then recurring. Your team or a partner builds the meeting interface, room flows and controls on the SDKs, and maintains them with each release.
Authentication and user management	One-time setup. Options include internal XMPP accounts, JWT tokens, LDAP and Matrix verification, configured through the .env file. Cost is mostly integration testing.	One-time build. Token issuing, user identity and access rules are your code to write and secure. Expect this to be a line item in any quote.
Scaling and operations	Recurring. Adding videobridges is documented as horizontal scaling. Cost is the machines plus monitoring and on-call effort.	Recurring engineering. Scaling, failover and multi-region routing are your design and operations work, with multi-region self-hosting documented in the server README.
Managed alternatives	Optional. 8x8 offers Jitsi as a Service (JaaS), which replaces your server bill with a vendor subscription. Confirm current terms directly with 8x8.	Optional. LiveKit Cloud is a paid hosted option running in more than 19 regions, per the LiveKit README. Confirm its pricing and terms with LiveKit before comparing.
Support and maintenance contracts	Optional recurring. Community support is free, while support or managed operation is contracted separately, scoped in writing.	Optional recurring. Community support is free, while support, upgrades and testing are contracted separately, scoped in writing.
Recording and dial-in add-ons	Optional. Jibri recording and Jigasi SIP dial-in need extra containers or hosts, adding server and storage cost that recurs with usage.	Not included. Recording, SIP and similar features are integrations you design and run yourself, so their cost is engineering time plus infrastructure.
Initial implementation	One-time. Mainly installation, TLS with a proper domain certificate, and authentication setup. The Jitsi handbook says self-signed certificates cause problems.	One-time, usually larger. Covers client development, SDK integration, auth, scaling design and testing. Ask for the work broken down by deliverable in a fixed-scope quote.

Moving from Jitsi to LiveKit or back, and what transfers

This sequence shows the order of work for moving meetings between Jitsi Meet and a LiveKit-based stack, which parts carry over unchanged and which must be rebuilt. The output is a written migration plan that your team and DeployOpen can review before any user is moved.

Inventory what users and systems depend on
Before choosing a direction, list every place where Jitsi is used: shared room links, calendar invitations, embedded meetings in other applications, dial-in numbers, recording storage, and any JWT token issuance. Name an owner for each item. The work is done when the inventory has an owner and a current state recorded for every item, and your team agrees it is complete. This step is the same for both directions, and it sets the scope for every later step.
Confirm the identity source and token model
Confirm where user accounts live today and how Jitsi authenticates them, whether through internal XMPP accounts, JWT tokens, LDAP or a Matrix-based option, as described in the Jitsi Docker guide. Then confirm how the target stack will issue tokens and which claims it needs. User accounts in your identity provider usually transfer, but the code that turns an identity into a meeting permission does not. The output is a short written mapping from each Jitsi authentication path to its equivalent in the target design.
Decide what happens to recordings
Recordings stored outside the meeting stack, such as in object storage or a file platform, can usually stay where they are, because they are files and not part of the media server. Recordings that exist only on the Jibri host or inside the meeting stack need an explicit export or archive step. Confirm retention rules and access controls with your compliance owner before moving anything. The check is a list of recording locations, each marked as keep in place or export, with the owner who approved it.
Build the new client and token issuance
Plan the replacement for the Jitsi web application and its integrations. A LiveKit deployment provides a media layer and SDKs, not a finished meeting interface, so your team or DeployOpen must build or adopt the client, the meeting screens, lobby behavior and the service that issues access tokens. Element Call and La Suite Meet are existing examples of products built on LiveKit that show what this work involves. The output is a working test environment where a sample meeting can be created, joined and left by test users.
Rebuild recording and dial-in pipelines
If your Jitsi setup uses Jibri for recording or streaming, or Jigasi for SIP dial-in, plan equivalent capabilities on the target. Jitsi provides these as separate components, so the replacement is a design task rather than a configuration change. Confirm which recording formats, storage locations and dial-in numbers your users depend on. Done means each recording or dial-in path has a tested equivalent or a documented decision to retire it.
Run a parallel pilot with a small group
Run both systems side by side with a limited group of test users, in the team's own environment. Use real network paths, including firewalls, TURN and TLS certificates, because Jitsi's handbook states that a proper domain certificate is necessary for working audio and video. Measure the points that matter to your organization, such as join success, audio and video quality, and mobile client behavior. The pilot is complete when the test group has signed off in writing and the open issues are logged.
Cut over and keep a rollback path
Move users in stages, changing links and embedded entry points one group at a time, and keep the previous system running until the cutover is accepted. Keep the room link and calendar invitation process documented so users know what changed. The output is a dated cutover record with a rollback procedure that has been tested, not just written. If you move back to Jitsi, the same steps apply in reverse, with the client and token work moving to the Jitsi stack.
Confirm what transferred and what did not
After cutover, compare the inventory from the first step with the live state. Confirm that identities, room access rules, recordings and integrations behave as intended, and record anything that was rebuilt or dropped. Ask DeployOpen or your internal team to document the final configuration and the open items. The check is a signed inventory that shows each item as transferred, rebuilt or retired, with an owner for each open item.

Where Jitsi and LiveKit projects usually run long

Most Jitsi projects that slip do so in the first week, not the last. The Jitsi handbook says HTTPS with a proper domain certificate is necessary for working audio and video, and warns that self-signed certificates cause problems, especially with mobile clients. Plan the DNS name and certificate before the server is built, and confirm how your mobile users will reach it. Port planning comes next: the Debian and Ubuntu quick start expects 80/TCP, 443/TCP and 10000/UDP open, with 5349/TCP for TCP fallback and 3478/UDP for STUN optional. Your network team should confirm these rules through every firewall and load balancer on the path, not only the server's own firewall. On authentication, the handbook marks the older secure domain method as deprecated for new installations and recommends JWT token authentication with a separate anonymous domain for guests. Decide early whether you need internal XMPP accounts, JWT, LDAP or the Matrix options that the Docker guide lists, because switching later changes how rooms are created and who can join.

Jitsi scales by adding videobridges, and the scalable setup guide notes the default install is already configured for horizontal scaling. The risk is in the sizing and the routing, not the install. The guide suggests a 4 CPU, 8 GB machine for the central server and 4 or 8 CPU with 8 GB RAM for each bridge, but treat those as starting points and load test with your own meeting sizes. Ask whether each bridge can be reached by every client that needs it, because UDP reachability is where most multi-bridge deployments fail. LiveKit moves the long tail into your application. The SFU gives you media routing and SDKs, so the client application, the identity and token flows, and the TURN and network setup are yours to design and test. Confirm who issues access tokens, how their lifetimes and room grants are set, and how your web and mobile clients handle expired tokens. Multi-region is a design decision rather than a checkbox: the LiveKit README documents multi-region self-hosting, and you should agree in writing whether your regions need their own deployments and how users are routed between them. Because LiveKit Cloud is an alternative to self-hosting, confirm early which parts of that trade-off your team will own. Fixed scope, with deliverables and test criteria written down before work starts, is how these risks are controlled.

How much effort and cost does each option take to run?

How much effort does it take to self-host Jitsi Meet?

Jitsi Meet is a multi-component system, so the effort is real but predictable. A deployment combines a web server (nginx or Apache), the Prosody XMPP server, Jicofo and one or more Jitsi Videobridge media routers. The Debian and Ubuntu quick start supports Debian 12 or newer and Ubuntu 24.04 or newer, requires OpenJDK 17, and needs ports 80/TCP, 443/TCP and 10000/UDP open, with 5349/TCP for TCP fallback and 3478/UDP for STUN optional. The Jitsi handbook also says a proper domain certificate is necessary for working audio and video, so budget time for DNS and certificates. The scalable setup guide suggests a 4 CPU, 8 GB machine for the central server and 4 or 8 CPU with 8 GB RAM for each videobridge. Confirm these sizes against your expected concurrency with your own load tests.

What does LiveKit need built on top before users can meet?

LiveKit server is a WebRTC selective forwarding unit with SDKs, not a finished meeting app. Your team or a partner builds the room experience, user accounts, invitations, moderation, recording or streaming if you need them, and the client apps on top of the SDKs. Multi-region self-hosting is documented, so plan for the networking, TURN and scaling design that goes with it. The LiveKit server release line is at v1.13.10, published on October 14, 2026. Ask LiveKit which self-hosting components and reference deployments they support, and what their commercial terms are for LiveKit Cloud as an alternative to running the server yourself.

Can our own team run Jitsi without outside help?

A team with Linux operations experience, DNS and certificate management, and some Java and XMPP familiarity can usually run a single Jitsi Meet server. The work that grows with the team is ongoing: keeping the Debian or Ubuntu packages and OpenJDK 17 current, watching videobridge load as meetings grow, and handling authentication changes. The Jitsi handbook marks the older secure domain method as deprecated for new installations and recommends JWT token authentication, so check that your staff can configure it correctly. Recording through Jibri and dial-in through Jigasi add further components. Test your own setup before relying on it for meetings.

Can a team run LiveKit itself, and what skills does it need?

A team that can operate distributed services can run the LiveKit server, but the skills differ from a meeting app. Expect to own the media server, TURN and network configuration, scaling across regions, client SDK integration and the meeting product logic. Engineers who build WebRTC clients or real-time services will be the main users of the platform. Ask LiveKit which deployment guides it provides and what support it offers for self-hosted installs.

When should a team bring in a consultant for Jitsi or LiveKit?

Bring in an implementation partner when the work crosses several teams or the stakes rise: identity integration, compliance evidence, hardening, backups, upgrades, or a LiveKit build that needs a custom meeting product. DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, backs up, upgrades and documents self-hosted platforms inside your own infrastructure, and most engagements are fixed-scope with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts. Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers. DeployOpen does not publish a price list, so ask for a quote that follows from the written scope.

What does the work need from our staff, and what should we ask vendors?

The work needs infrastructure owners for hosting, networking and certificates, an identity owner for authentication, and an application owner who decides what the meeting experience must do. For Jitsi, ask the vendor or partner which Jitsi components and configuration you need for your concurrency, and whether recording and dial-in are in scope. For LiveKit, ask LiveKit which self-hosting architecture it recommends, what its SDK support covers, and what its license terms mean for your product. In any quote, ask what is one-time (setup, integration, hardening) and what recurs (upgrades, support, monitoring, retainers).

What drives the running cost of each option up or down?

For Jitsi, the main drivers are the number of concurrent participants, which sets how many videobridges you need, the server sizes in the scalable guide, bandwidth, and whether you add Jibri recording or Jigasi dial-in. For LiveKit, the drivers are the media load you design for, multi-region placement, TURN capacity and the engineering time to build the product. Software licenses for both are Apache-2.0, so most recurring cost is infrastructure, staff time and any support contract you choose. Confirm bandwidth and hardware assumptions with your own load tests before you compare totals.

Why Element Call and La Suite Meet chose LiveKit as their media layer

Element Call and La Suite Meet both use LiveKit as their media backend, according to their GitHub READMEs. Each team kept the client and product experience in its own hands and treated the media server as a component to integrate, which is the decision a team weighing Jitsi against LiveKit has to understand before choosing.

Shared media backend

Element Call and La Suite Meet both name LiveKit as their media backend in their repositories. Both products are built on a WebRTC selective forwarding unit they did not write from scratch, which means the media plane is a shared dependency. For a team comparing platforms, the question is whether it wants the same starting point, with the same upstream project to track, or a complete meeting app that already includes its own media router.

What the product team takes on

Choosing LiveKit as a media layer means the product team owns the room model, user interface, permissions, recording flow and client behavior. Those are the parts a finished meeting app such as Jitsi Meet ships on day one. A team that builds on LiveKit should estimate the engineering effort for each of those surfaces, and should ask whether it has developers who can maintain web and mobile clients over time.

Operating the media server

LiveKit server is Apache-2.0 licensed and documents multi-region self-hosting, so the media tier is something your team runs. Confirm who owns scaling, TURN configuration, certificate renewal and upgrades. LiveKit also sells LiveKit Cloud as an alternative to self-hosting the server. Compare that option against your data residency and hosting rules before deciding that the media plane must stay in your own network.

Where Jitsi remains the stronger base

Jitsi is the better base when the goal is a complete meeting application without building one. Jitsi Meet ships a web app, Prosody for signalling, Jicofo for conference focus and Jitsi Videobridge for media, and the documented Docker setup adds recording and SIP dial-in as separate components. A team that wants users in meetings quickly, and does not plan to build its own client, will spend less of its effort on the product layer.

Checks before committing

Before choosing a media layer, confirm three things: whether your product needs its own client experience, whether your team has the frontend and mobile capacity to maintain it, and whether the upstream project's release cadence fits your upgrade process. Element Call and La Suite Meet show the pattern works for their teams. Your own answers, not their choice, should decide whether your team follows it.

Questions to answer before you choose between them

Start with the interface. If your users need a finished meeting app on day one, with rooms, screen sharing and a web client they can open from a link, Jitsi Meet already ships that as one deployment of the web app, Prosody, Jicofo and Jitsi Videobridge. If instead video is one feature inside your own screens, LiveKit's SDKs are the center of the decision, and you need engineers who can design room state, device handling, reconnection and mobile clients. Ask which of those skills you have in-house today. Element Call and La Suite Meet both chose LiveKit as their media backend, which shows the pattern: a team that owns its client experience and wants a media layer underneath it. Confirm SDK coverage for every client platform you must support before you commit.

Next, decide how access is issued and what the platform must do beyond a call. Jitsi's Docker guide lists internal XMPP accounts, JWT tokens, LDAP, Matrix user verification and a hybrid Matrix plus JWT mode, all set through the .env file. The handbook recommends JWT token authentication over the deprecated secure domain method and suggests a separate anonymous domain for guests. If your identity provider can issue signed tokens, that path is well documented. With LiveKit, access is granted by the application you build, so write down who mints the tokens and how revocation works. For recording and dial-in, Jitsi offers Jibri and Jigasi, so confirm whether LiveKit covers the same needs. For multi-region, LiveKit documents multi-region self-hosting, while Jitsi scales by adding videobridges. Map each requirement to a named component before choosing.

Finally, match the support model to your team. Jitsi is maintained by its project community, and its trademark holder 8x8 offers JaaS as a hosted option. LiveKit sells LiveKit Cloud, which runs in more than 19 regions, as an alternative to self-hosting the server. Either self-hosted path puts patching, TLS certificates and capacity on your team unless you contract that work. Jitsi's handbook states that HTTPS with a proper domain certificate is necessary for working audio and video, and LiveKit server releases such as v1.13.10, published October 14, 2026, need their own upgrade cycle. Ask any vendor or partner who responds to incidents, what the upgrade path looks like and which versions they test. Then compare the cost of building the meeting experience on LiveKit with the cost of operating Jitsi's components in your environment.

How DeployOpen helps you choose, implement or migrate

DeployOpen plans, implements, integrates, hardens, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For Jitsi vs LiveKit, we start from your user population, identity model and hosting constraints, then build the option you choose so that your team can run it after handover.

How we scope

We confirm which users, rooms and meeting types the platform must serve before any design work starts.
We record identity model, network paths, TURN and firewall requirements and whether recording or SIP dial-in is needed.
Engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work begins.

How we build

We deploy either a Jitsi Meet stack or a LiveKit server with the application layer you need inside your environment.
We configure authentication, HTTPS certificates and scaling components to match the scope agreed in writing.
We test audio, video and failover paths in your environment and document the results alongside the configuration.

How we hand over

You receive architecture diagrams, configuration records, runbooks and the operating steps for upgrades and backups.
We walk your platform and operations staff through the deployment so they can run and troubleshoot it.
We document any custom code or SDK integration so that your team can maintain it without us.

How we support

Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers after handover.
Retainers can cover version upgrades, certificate and capacity reviews, and periodic security testing of the meeting service.
Before choosing a retainer, confirm response expectations and service terms in the written proposal with DeployOpen.

Jitsi vs LiveKit